TripAdvisor Reviews Hotel Niki Athens

Travel Blogs from Athens

... life jackets in our cabin, but our Housekeeper finally came to our rescue and provided the 3rd life jacket for us!!

SUNDAY: The first stop was Kusadasi. Our last chance to spend those pesky Turkish Lira!! Arrival was 4pm, with all aboard at 10pm. We chose the optional excursion to the amazing ruins of Ephesus, preceded by a visit to what is supposedly the house where the Virgin Mary lived during her time in Turkey! To say that Ephesus ...

I had not really thought about the turbulent history of Greece until standing in front of the many ancient ruins and realizing that most of them have been blown up. Greece only became independent in 1832 and has traded hands many many times. The other interesting thing about our tour is that the historical stories of Mythology are told as if they are real. In fact, we found ourselves taking photographs of ...

... hadn't already known about the Greek monetary crisis from the news, we would not have been able to tell that there was anything out of the ordinary going on! The Metro was free, so we took it to the Monastiraki area, known for its markets and cafes. Found a nice little tree-lined sidewalk cafe, after stopping to gape at some ruins along the way. One gets a startle to suddenly see ruins one ...

... far - and thankfully it was around 5:30 and the most fierce part of the day was over, although typical Europe it stays light till around 9:30-10:00pm so its still pretty warm - 28 degrees. You walk up past the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (theatre for music only) that they are restoring and it is currently used for special events such as the singer Yannis.

Next is the entrance gate - the Propylaea. A place to pause and catch your breath ...

... It was built in 1895 for the first modern Olympic Games and was built on the site of the original Stadium which began in 330 BC and was completed in 140 AD.

We the headed off to the new Acropolis Museum which was really spectacular and featured artefacts from 570 BC, the frieze of the Parthenon. Many parts have been mutilated, either by destruction through history ...